PV Gap

Gloria Said:

What makes a Parabolic Dish/Engine system better than regular solar panels?

We Answered:

With a parabolic reflector every solar ray that enters the parabola parallel to the axis of the parabopla is reflected onto the focus. That is a property of a parabola (but not a semicircle).

So if you mount a collector tube at the focus it will receive all the rays that enter the parabola onto the collector. Great for efficiency.

But as the sun moves across the sky it does not continually shine parallel to the parabolic axis, unless you follow the sun with a control system of some sort. So the array is driven by a motor to make sure the parabolic axis follows the sun.

An everyday flat solar panel is only at maximum efficiency when the sun is directly overhead and not as much of the light is ever reflected onto the collector element.